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Becoming a confident reader may be the single most important skill for children in first grade to acquire. The teaching of reading is especially effective when conducted in smaller groups of four to six children receiving direct instruction from the teacher. Because young children are learning how to match sounds to letters, correctly pronounce words and recognize spelling patterns, teachers working with small groups can provide targeted instruction for a more individualized approach. Experienced educators also will have meaningful work for all children to undertake in other parts of the room during this small group instruction time to ensure that all first-graders in a classroom can take turns receiving direct small-group reading support from a certificated teacher.

Using Baseline Assessments for Placement

Because certain skills will be taught by the teacher it is necessary to gather together students with similar skill levels for strategic instruction. Placing students in homogeneous groups for targeted reading instruction requires reliable data. Assessment programs such as Education Software for Guiding Instruction (ESGI), Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and other systematic methods are used initially for determining which students have letter-sound relationships mastered and which children need more intensive instruction in the basic alphabet. Other centers in which the first-graders will work on other language arts skills can be more heterogeneously grouped, providing children opportunities to interact with and learn from one another.

Keeping Students Engaged

While some students in a first-grade classroom are involved with the teacher, the other children need to be engaged in meaningful, productive word work. Although these students may receive less direct instruction, it is helpful to have a parent volunteer, community helper or classroom aide supervise other groups, freeing the teacher to focus exclusively on reading instruction. Word work such as identifying capital letters and punctuation marks in text, spelling out sight words or hearing a recorded book read aloud at a listening center are all significantly productive ways children can continue to benefit from reading activities when not meeting with the classroom teacher.

Managing Center Activities

Some teachers prefer to group children based on skill level or prior reading exposure. While this may be advisable for direct reading instruction, it becomes less significant when students are working at other task-oriented centers such as printing words or spelling with letter tiles. Giving first-graders daily "maps" or "assignments" or specifying a clear rotation system may require several weeks to train students to use but is well worth the time. Children will know exactly what to do when the teacher is engaged with a group and prefers not to be interrupted for questions. Teachers can name centers by color or animal name and teach the students how to listen for signals indicating when to move to the next reading center. Further practice may need to take place in teaching students how to work quietly at a center, where to find materials needed and how to clean up at the end of the activity.

Accommodating Individual Needs

Small group instruction that works well for all students is a fluid, changeable system. As children gain new skills and progress through the early stages of learning to read, it may be necessary to reassess and move children within the small groups on a regular basis. The teacher should be using ongoing data collection and informal observation to ensure that students are receiving the targeted instruction specific to their needs. Additionally, children who need more challenging reading materials can be accommodated with differentiated materials, and students requiring more review and intensive reinforcement can be working most effectively with others who are learning at the same pace.

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About the Author

Julie Alice Huson is a parent and an educator with a Master of Science in education. She has more than 25 years of teaching experience, and has written educational materials for Colonial Williamsburg. She has also worked in consultation with the California Department of Education. Huson received a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching in 2011.